CHAPTER VII. 
THE EAGLE OWL 
(Bubo maximus ). 
“ Grave creature!—whether, while the moon shines bright 
On thy wings opened wide for smoothest flight, 
Thou art discovered in a roofless tower, 
Rising from what may once have been a lady’s bower; 
Or spied where thou sitt’st moping in thy mew 
At the dim centre of churchyard yew; 
Or, from a rifted crag or ivy tod 
Deep in a forest, thy secure abode, 
Thou giv’st, for pastime’s sake, by shriek or shout, 
« 
A puzzling notice of thy whereabout— 
May the night never come, nor day be seen, 
When I shall scorn thy voice, or mock thy mien!” 
WORDSWORTH. 
The dark, dreary nights of our latitudes are aptly 
represented by that wild, nocturnal hunter—the Eagle 
Owl. It is gloomy, sullen, and spiteful in disposition, 
more so perhaps than any other bird, and may thus 
justly be regarded as typical of our night. Owls of 
all sorts are to be met with both in the north and in 
the south, but no other species is so odious as the 
Eagle Owl, or such of its relations as exist under 
similar circumstances in other portions of the globe. 
As we have before remarked, it is a perfect contra¬ 
diction to the rest of the bird world, so remarkable 
